


12 Days of Christmas

by plantedpluto



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Christmas Tree, M/M, Mentions of Jason Grace - Freeform, Traditions, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:59:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27971198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plantedpluto/pseuds/plantedpluto
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Kudos: 14





	12 Days of Christmas

"I miss the warm weather at camp." Will complained, trudging through the deep snow. Nico, who was in front of him, rolled his eyes. Of course Will would be the one to object to the cold weather. He'd never known a time for the son of Apollo to leave camp. Lou Ellen and Cecil had explained that he was from Texas, his mother Naomi, but other than that, Will never really shared much about his 'out of camp' life. 

"I was on the run in mid-winter _alone_ , and I was freezing."

Will snorted. "That's on you! Percy tried to get you to stay."

"That was four years ago, Will. And I was grieving!" he retorted. Nico shook his head to remove the snow, but some still lingered on his scalp. He probably looked like a chocolate donut sprinkled with powdered sugar; especially by the way Will was ogling at him. Will’s look that almost made him look like he was drooling, and thank the gods he wasn’t. 

Nico’s had enough of drooling with Mrs O’Leary making herself at home in cabin thirteen since Percy left for New Rome. They figured it would be hard for Hannibal and the hellhound to get along, mostly because the war elephant was- well, a _war_ elephant. 

Lou Ellen giggled as Cecil scooped her up for a piggyback ride, Will looking at Nico hopefully. The best Nico wanted to do, was hold his hand. 

"How do we even carry a tree this big?" Cecil wondered, staring at the nine foot evergreen, the nicest one on the lot. 

Nico clapped his hands, Mrs O’Leary coming barreling out from the shadow of another pine. She took a few minutes to break the branches that blocked her from exiting and then ran to the one they wanted. 

"Mrs O’Leary, no!" Nico objected. She stopped immediately and stomped her way through the snow to her secondary owner. She stuck her tongue out and licked the side of Nico’s face like sandpaper, while the rest of their friends laughed. There was the drool Nico didn’t want. 

Lou had appeared next to the hound and pet her side. "Who’s a good puppy? Huh, who is?" she teased, avoiding Mrs O’Leary’s dangling and slobber filled tongue. 

Nico couldn’t surpress a laugh. The year had been hard on everyone; Apollo becoming a mortal (Nico thought that it shouldn’t even belong on the list, but it was vital to all of demigod life), Will’s siblings almost being burned at the stake, and well, Jason Grace’s death. 

Most of them knew that Leo had relocated himself to Indianapolis to be at the Waystation with Calypso; Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Hazel, and Frank, at New Rome, Reyna with the Hunters (Nico hoping she’d come visit soon), and Piper completely off the grid. No one had seen her for months and she no longer lived in California with her dad. 

"Alright Nico, slice her up!" Cecil requested, pretending to do a side karate chop. Nico looked at him with a raised brow, and when the son of Hermes got no responses, he continued, "With your sword? Get chopping."

Nico rolled his eyes, patting his sword in it’s sheath. The only time it was coming out, was when a monster had decided to attack. "It doesn’t work like that, all monsters turn to shadow. It’s just go right through it."

Just as Cecil was about to whine, Lou snapped her fingers and an angled line appeared on the trunk of the tree. The group ordered Mrs O’Leary to stand in front of it so the tree could fall on her back. Will, who was oddly silent, whipped out some rope, just to secure it before they got back to camp. They tied it around the large dog, Nico patting her side as she disappeared the way she came. 

"Tell me she’s coming back." Will’s teeth chattered, rubbing his arms to create warmth. Nico laughed, leaning on Will. 

The son of Apollo always had subtle ways of being affectionate as the two were always being pointed out for their overt PDA, so Will just ruffled the top of Nico’s head. The pieces of his raven hair shook in his face and he parted them to watch the falling snow get fluffier. 

Mrs O’Leary’s barks were distinctly echoing about the trees before she exited the shadow of one again. Nico hadn’t considered the fact that he himself could’ve shadow-travelled them back, but Will was strict about over exerting himself. 

The four mounted the beast and ran straight through the tree and into the grounds in the middle of the ring of cabins. Nico was hesitant to get off, but slid down and was caught by his boyfriend; who kissed his forehead up behind. 

They should’ve heard this coming, but it still caught Nico by surprise. "Guys, c’mon," Cecil drawled. "Cut the PDA."

Nico pushed himself to his feet, looking Lou Ellen and Cecil up and down. He had his arm around her waist and the side of her head was rested on his chest. Quiet enough that only Will could hear, Nico whispered, "Takes one to know one."

Will laughed, wrapping his arm around Nico’s shoulder as they took off their parkas and walked to the dining pavilion where the tree would be displayed. The room was not even close to subtly decorated. Lacy and Mitchell had gone full out and hung red and green streamers from the ceiling, the tree was already propped up in the corner, a menorah on one of the window sills for the Jewish campers; like Cecil and Julia. Many of the year-round demigods were surrounding the tree; adorning it with their own ornaments and kick knacks. 

Nico rifled through his pocket to find the Hades figure Bianca had given to him four years previous. Just for Christmas, he’d strung fishing line - that he found in the beach storage hut - through it to make an ornament. 

Mr D and Chiron were sitting in the corner, the camp director grinning at his glass every time he poured from a wine bottle and it refrained from turning clear. Chiron cocked his head sideways to beckon Nico over. The son of Hades patted Will’s arm as they parted ways and Will met up with all of his siblings. 

"Son of Hades!" Mr D exclaimed, pointing to their Pinochle board. "We need three for this game, will you join us?"

Chiron waved away Mr D’s request, pouring more wine into their glasses. Nico rose a brow in puzzlement as the god of wine started shouting orders at other campers - always calling them by the wrong name. 

"Wilbur Sonic! Fancy a game of Pinochle?" Nico turned to watch Will shake his head, and Mr D sighed, banging his head on the table once and just laid there. 

"Sir," Nico addressed Chiron. "Is Mr D... drunk?" he asked timidly. What he recalled was that Dionysus was still banned from alcohol by Zeus. 

"No, it’s grape juice. My brother is still stubborn, like always." The sky roared, not a single cloud threatening to dump on camp. "Fine! I’m just being honest with the boy!"

Nico cleared his throat. "Did you want something, or were you just calling me over to assure one of us Mr D is in fact _not_ actually drunk?"

"Oh, yes, right. I have a favour I need from you." The centaur stated, Nico nodding in acknowledgement. "Up in my office, in the drawer, I have a small chest; no bigger than a copy of Moby Dick. Can you retrieve it?"

"Yeah, um- sure."

* * *

After returning from the Big House, Nico set the fragile wooden box on the table. It was engraved with random indents, almost like Kronos’ sarcophagus - except this one did not depict a Titan eating his own children. 

Chiron opened the box and handed Nico the sheet on top, it turning out to be a letter. "I received it while you were out getting the tree. Apparently it got lost in the mail, and it’s addressed to you."

Nico took the letter, a small lump of an object inside. Chiron’s lips formed a line as Nico took Mr D’s empty seat and slipped open the envelope to grab the letter. 

He recognized the scrawled on handwriting instantly. Folding it up for a moment, he gained his composure after almost ruining the already dirtied paper with the tears he tried to hold back. Nonetheless, he unfolded it and read on. 

_Dear Nico,_

_This past year hasn’t been easy on any of us. Trust me, we both know. It’s hard to write this letter knowing what will come next for me. The Fates have decided and you can’t really fight a prophecy, can you? Except that Percy took on the one that could literally have been either of you._

Nico laughed, but continued on. 

_The pressure at Camp Jupiter and the insistence on being perfect to all the gods was hard. After all my years of training, I didn’t want to be a praetor, though I do put trust in my friends, especially you. You have my back, and I have yours, and I thought you should have this._

_Remember that moment, the one you showed true bravery. The next one, where you took on the most difficult task, one I couldn’t in a million years take on myself. Without you, Gaea would not have fallen successfully, and all of Camp Half-Blood would’ve burned to ashes._

_My fate will only hurt you, in ways no one else could understand - even me, but promise you won’t dwell on it too much. You have far more on your mind concerning your own future and what quests are to come. (You are a very desirable demigod, Hero of Olympus and all)._

_The Fates themselves aren’t always fair, they can even be cruel, yet it wasn’t a mistake that their prophecy lead us to becoming friends. Take care of it for me, will you?_

_Sincerely, Jason Grace._

Nico mentally scolded himself for letting the paper get wet with his tears. He pulled out the item inside to reveal an object that resembled what every demigod at Camp Half-Blood had. 

Jason’s camp necklace. 

It’s leather cord was weathered and worn, the singular painted bead, the Athena Parthenos standing on Half-Blood Hill - was chipping paint in certain spots, yet the image was easily recognizable. 

Even after reading the letter, Nico still didn’t understand why Jason had trusted him with such an item. Why didn’t it go to Piper? Or Leo? Hell, what about Thalia? 

Nico wiped his eyes off with his sleeve as Chiron took the box and wheeled away, allowing Will to slide up a chair next to Nico. His eyes were somber, looking between the letter, necklace, and Nico’s half tear-strewn face. 

"He wanted me to have it," Nico whispered. "Out of anyone else, me?"

Will sucked in a breath. "You were important to him, weren’t you?"

He didn’t say anything in response for a moment. Nico _was_ important to Jason. But not as much as Piper, or Leo, Thalia, Reyna, Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Frank, and every other person he touched. Out of all, he chose Nico. 

Then it dawned on him; Jason didn’t choose Nico out of pity for the incident with Eros, he chose Nico because that’s who Jason’s death would hurt the most, "_My fate will only hurt you, in ways no one else could understand._"

He wanted Nico to have something to remember him by. Nico was important to Jason, because he had put his trust in the son of Jupiter. He was unwavering, and appreciative of Jason’s moral choices. He was important to Jason, because Jason was important to Nico. 

"He was important to me too." he finally rasped out, his vision blurring from the amount of tears and sobs he was stifling. 

Will pulled Nico to lean on him, planting his chin on Nico’s head while running his hands along his head. Nico had a strange feeling that Cecil almost said ‘Cut the PDA’ again, but the slight tension in Will’s hand for a moment told him that Will stopped his friend. 

He unwrapped from Nico and planted a kiss on his forehead, curling his fingers over the bead. "They’re putting them on the tree, if you want to do that." Will suggested. 

Nico hadn’t even noticed that mixed with the random ornaments were all old necklaces, ones of fallen demigods. Cecil and Julia had presented Luke’s that came from the box, on a branch close to the middle. 

Austin and Kayla were pointing to two in a cluster, ones with a few more beads than their own; one with the last bead being the maze, and the other with the golden fleece. 

Even Mr D had taken one from Chiron, his son Pollux examining it with him before hanging it on the tree. 

Nico walked towards the tree and hung it near the top, running his fingers along the slight knob of paint on the bead, then became enveloped by Will from behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually thought of a head canon with the necklace ornaments, but I didn’t want to post it to my tumblr to ruin this chapter.


End file.
